


someone to hold me

by lutzaussi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-02 19:10:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11515623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lutzaussi/pseuds/lutzaussi
Summary: Iruka gets back from a mission to find some unexpected visitors in his apartment.





	someone to hold me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lorenzoilmagnifico](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lorenzoilmagnifico/gifts).



It’s dark when Iruka gets back to Konoha, and he’s soaked to the skin from the thunderstorm that devolved into rain on his way. Stopping by Tsunade’s office is perfunctory; she’s getting ready to leave and he has nothing to report that his earlier messages didn’t already cover. After being dismissed, it’s a slog for him to get back to his apartment.

Perhaps it’s saying something about how exhausted he is when he doesn’t notice that the lights of his apartment are on until he’s opened the front door. But, really, it’s any number of people that could’ve broken in. Naruto’s in town, and Iruka definitely wouldn’t put it past him; Anko has the annoying tendency to break in and steal his alcohol; not to mention the other chuunin and a handful of the jounin who know that he always keeps cookies in his kitchen no matter the time of year.

It is none of the above. Iruka can’t really rustle up the energy to be surprised when he finds Akino and Pakkun laying on his couch. Iruka nods to each of them, continues back to the source of the majority of the noise he is hearing. The bathroom.

Iruka opens the door, props his hands on his hips. Kakashi looks up and the baby-talk that he descends into when surrounded by his ninken dies off when he sees Iruka. It’s a little gratifying to see his ears redden.

“Why are you using my bath to clean your dogs,” Iruka asks. Well, more states.

“The electricity and plumbing is out at the jounin dorms,” Kakashi says, and Iruka is faced with puppy dog eyes not only from him, but also the three dogs that are piled into the tub. “I’ll clean up! They just got muddy during our mission.”

Iruka rolls his eyes, successfully stops himself from throwing his hands up in surrender, “Okay, okay, I’m going to go change.”

Even his bedroom is not safe from the dogs; Uuhei is curled up next to the pillows on his bed, and Bull is sprawled mostly-off of the rug. Let it be said that Iruka is a sucker—he stops by each dog to pat them, and ends up with all of the clean ones waiting in or outside his bedroom while he gets clean clothes on. Despite how gross his hair still feels, wearing clean clothes makes up for it at least a little. That done, he pushes back through the dogs to make his way to the kitchen for the next most important thing: food.

The dogs form a surprisingly compact puddle under and around the kitchen table, leaving Iruka enough room to get the donabe out and open the fridge to try and figure out what he is actually making.

The answer is, once he’s scrounged out all of the nearly-bad vegetables and meats, hot pot. He sears some of the beef while cutting up everything else because, yes, he’s a sucker, but Kakashi and the ninken have been gone for a week and they deserve proper food. Urushi and Guruko have joined the dog-pile by the time Iruka starts the donabe cooking and puts the meat down for the dogs to eat.

He’s in the middle of washing his hands when Bisuke flies around the corner with a perfect ninety-degree turn and jumps at the perfect height to hit Iruka’s chest. Because he _knows_ that Iruka’s going to catch him, the little snot.

Kakashi comes skidding around the corner a second after Iruka successfully catches his youngest ninken, slams into the doorframe and lets out a yell that might be “Don’t you do that again!” or maybe just incoherent pain-shrieking. Either way, Iruka can’t help a snort. Kakashi looks at him with absolute betrayal in his visible eye.

“Is the bathroom clean?” Iruka inquires, hefting Bisuke up so he’s mostly on his shoulder and not in danger of falling off.

“Yes, though I can’t say the same for most of your towels,” Kakashi says, limping into the kitchen. “I put them in the wash, should get the fur off of them.”

“Thanks.” Iruka pushes Bull, who has oozed over near the cabinets, aside with one foot so Kakashi has enough room to stand next to him. Well, slouch, really, but Iruka doesn’t mind. They don’t get to do this often, not with Kakashi taking missions nearly every week and Iruka busy with work. “Can you get bowls?”

Kakashi does as asked while Iruka clears a path to the table so he can set the donabe and its burner on the table, and before long they are finally sitting down to eat. Bisuke stays on Iruka’s lap because while Iruka doesn’t like to play favorites Bisuke is his favorite, and the other ninken resume their puddling around the table. They don’t talk, really. Meals after missions are quiet affairs, and Iruka’s okay with that.

Kakashi starts on the dishes while Iruka herds the dogs out of the kitchen and into the living room. They each have spots on the couch or the rugs or the armchair, but Bisuke doesn’t jump up onto the back of the couch, follows Iruka back into the kitchen instead. Were it any other night, Iruka might’ve started a pot of tea, but he doesn’t have any papers to grade and more than anything, he just wants to sleep.

“Kakashi,” he says, picks Bisuke up to the dog’s very weak protests, “keep an eye on this one. I’m going to take a shower.”

He drapes Bisuke over Kakashi’s shoulder, can hear them start talking to each other while he heads down the hall to the bathroom.

It is, as Kakashi had said, clean. At that point, though, Iruka doesn’t really care. He just wants to feel clean, too. It doesn’t hurt that the water’s warm, and he spaces out just standing in it for a while.

The towels are done washing when he gets out of the bathroom, and though he really doesn’t want to expend more effort they will smell musty if left alone until the morning, so he hangs them out on the balcony, out of reach of the dogs. It’s clear enough to, the smell of rain and the sound of thunder further off. Kakashi is checking the dogs over for ticks, maybe, but when Iruka comes in from hanging out the towels up, and he looks to Iruka.

“Come on,” Iruka says, makes a sweeping gesture to the mostly-asleep ninken, “it’s too late. You need to sleep.”

One of his eyebrows quirks up, but Kakashi doesn’t protest. He dusts the fur off his hands, takes the hand that Iruka offers.

Iruka’s bed isn’t really meant for two people to sleep in, but they make it work. Somehow. Iruka’s looking out the crack between the curtains where the moon is finally visible through the clouds, Kakashi is mashed against his back. He drifts off like that, only barely aware of Bisuke nosing under the sheets.


End file.
